Musicians stopped playing their instruments, servants did not move an inch and the guests took time to process their disbelief. For a while, fire was the only moving thing in the hall. Saer dropped the tray as his shaking hands could not hold it further. The clatter initiated mild humming among attendees. A part of buzz was also Saer's voice which only Nortze could hear.

"Why didn’t you lock her in your house?" Saer whispered.

"I couldn’t let her anywhere near vessel."

"What kind of sorcery is this?" King Lacroix pushed his chair back and left the table.

Rikilda could not fathom seeing her lookalike standing near Prince Tudor. Scare in her face was natural.

"Your majesty." Rikilda joined her hands, "Seize that white servant. He is responsible for all this."

Though king gave no command, guards ran from entrance and grounded Saer. King Lacroix also did not find their swift action questionable, considering rumors surrounding him.

Guards would not have hesitated slaughtering Saer if Rikilda had demanded violence. Nortze would not have shied from stopping it. He already was vocal.

"Leave him. I command." Nortze pulled a guard's arm.

"Don’t interfere or you will get the same treatment." King said from king's table.

Saer did not attempt to fight back. Neither he bothered to justify himself. Leaving his faith on Nortze's hands, Saer went along with the guards to the dungeon.

Jehaule smirked beneath the helm over his head.Nortze saw those shrinking eyes as he marched towards the Rikilda. By the time he was near to her, Jehaule's smile had dried. The eyes which had contracted then were now fixed on Nortze. He squinted towards Prince Tudor. The prince had never been so pale before. Princess to be had some redness remaining on her face.

"Father, don’t let this double come close to us." Doppelganger hid behind Tudor.

Three guards blocked Rikilda's way. Real Rikilda didn’t need to get more up and close with Tudor since they were close enough to make eye contact.

"You fell for this white man's tricks too?" teardrops covered bottom of her eyes. She wiped them with a sob and turned to Nortze, "And father, what happened to you?"

"Don’t call me father, you doppelganger." Nortze drew his sword.

"You backstabbing hag. Is this what you had planned for my wedding?"

"How dare you talk to him like this?" Doppelganger frowned.

Rikilda trembled in anger. She grinded her teeth and jumped towards the stage. She got through those un-alerted guards but the next barricade of soldiers grasped her and began dragging her away from the couple.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

They only stopped at Nortze's order.

"Can't you recognize me, father?" Rikilda tore her lungs.

Guards had their gazes on Nortze to read his minute gestures so Nortze did not hint her anything. Instead he stretched his head, looking over Jehaule's shoulder to the king.

Nortze shook his head sideways.

"Shackle her." King Lacroix bellowed.

"Wait." Rikilda said when huge men grounded her.

Nortze, who had never laid hands on Rikilda, watched her being forced to the floor. A guard pressed her head against the floor. Rikilda wasn’t reacting much but Nortze felt the pain. He tightened his lips, stopping himself from killing the guard. Nortze forced himself to look at the doppelganger with a father's love.

He knew it was not natural but for everyone else, it was. When he heard a painful grunt from her real daughter he gazed at her. His eyes locked with Rikilda's. She did not spare him, "What did he do to you, father? I can tell that you know I am real."

"What do we do with this doppelganger?" Jehaule asked king's counselor.

"Destroy it." Counselor said, "Such a shame it is. A doppelganger doesn’t know what pain is."

"Father," Rikilda wept, "as this witch something only you and I know."

The doppelganger took a deep breath and said, "He an ugly doll made by mother when I was seven. Father told her I had lost it because he didn’t want to tell how bad her sewing skills were."

Nortze nod at king's direction.

"Mother." Rikilda said, "You ask me some questions."

Gisella, aware of everything, kept her tongue tied.

"Mother, ask this doppelganger about the time we left home at night. I was unconscious. Ask her who had scared me." Real Rikilda said.

"It was my father who scared me. I had also torn my cloth in the forest."

Rikilda could no longer take support of true incidents to prove her point so she said,"Witch, tell me where you had hidden when there was ambush in our house."

"I don’t remember any ambush." Nortze spoke.

She saw Nortze's unapologetic eyes looking down at her as if they wanted her to know something.

"Tudor." Rikilda squeaked.

"ENOUGH." King Lacroix screamed, "Kill the doppelganger."

"Wait, your majesty." The priest had his word, "First we should determine who the doppelganger is."

King had a look of confusion crawling over his face which took form of argument. He chose to nod for validation.